Ready to pull the trigger on 1026r and need reassurance.

[finley31]

I recently got married and purchased our first piece of property here in the hills of WV. The 15 acre farm we purchased has been abandoned for about 10 years, and we are trying to reclaim it to eventually build a home. So far we have cleared and cleaned up everything using a 42" 14hp yard machine riding mower, a stihl weed eater and a small chainsaw.

This is what we started with at the beginning of March.

This is where we are at currently.

You can tell from the pictures that my yard isn't exactly flat, and I have quite a bit to mow, including about 150 yards of road frontage that can't be seen in these pictures. I've been wrestling between the idea of buying a dedicated lawn mower and a separate tractor, or just getting a SCUT with the attachments to do everything I want. I have made several trips to the local Deere dealership and have been reading quite a few forums on reviews of different mowers/tractors. Right now I've pretty much decided that I'm gonna go with a 1026r with a 54" autoconnect mmm, H120 fel, and a 260 bh. I received a quote from the local dealer yesterday of ~$16,900 for the tractor,mower, and fel, with the bh being an additional $5200. Also, they said with the down payment I am including I could get 0% for 60 months. I am thinking this tractor with the attachments I mentioned will help me with the following tasks:
-mowing
-brush clearing
-driveway maintenance
-pond maintenance
-drainage maintenance

There are two issues that still have me concerned and have kept me from ordering this thing. First, I am concerned that the 54" deck will put me too close to obstacles, but I also worry that the 60" deck will scalp the ground in uneven areas (which I have plenty of). Second, I would like to be able to justify the backhoe as much I can, and I wonder if I will be able to use it for more than the maintenance of my drainage ditches. We plan on building a house, detached garage, and barn in the future and plan on doing most of the work ourselves. Would it be feasible to use the backhoe for digging footers for projects like this, or is it even close to being able to do this? I have read quite a few threads on these attachments and watched some videos but I just wanted to ask this for my specific application. The last thing that has bothered me is the stability of the tractor on my hills, should I have the tires filled to help with stability?

What I need is someone to help me okay this purchase in my mind. I have the go ahead from the wife, and my dad is just itching to come play in the dirt with this thing, I just need some more opinions.

Here are a few more pictures of the property in question.

(clearing out a spot for a food plot with the yard machine, it has really been a trooper)

 

[jenkinsph]

finley 31,
First of all Welcome to TBN, great to see a new member with a nice project such as yours.

You have done alot of work so far and it all looks great. Looks like you have alot of mowing to do and I would recommend that as a separate machine, with good antiscalp rollers, my Deere x749 would be a great choice as they are very good on slopes. A separate tlb about 30 hp would be a great addition for your other tasks and the smaller Kubotas would be just right for you, buy or rent according to how much you need it.

If most of the 15 acres will be mowed then a larger tractor and rear finish mower would make more sense. Hard to know how many acres are open, can you offer more information on this?

Nice property the work you have already done speaks volumes.

 

[RickS]

My only contribution to this discussion is a thought on maintenance. Two machines is more to take care of than one that has multiple attachments. Also, you will end up wanting a larger tractor. Everyone does. I would look at least one series up. Maybe two.

 

[finley31]

jenkinsph,

Thanks for the compliments. To answer your question, approximately 10 of the 15 acres is open ground. We have a herd of goats, a steer calf, and a few other assorted animals, and plan on fencing in a good portion of the open sections. In the end I plan on having around 3-4 acres left to mow as a "yard", and what feels like 20 acres worth of weed eating.

 

[jenkinsph]

Well one thing is for sure, grass is easier to maintain than weeds.

With what you have in mind I would consider a 2520 or 2720 Deere or similar sized tractor with a 72" mmm and a small landplane. The landplane will help tremendously to smooth the lawn and field areas so that scalping in the future isn't a problem. Smooth out the bumps and fill the depressions and reseed this fall.

Not sure I would recommend a small hoe, seems like alot of money for what they can do, might be better to rent a larger model when needed.

 

[s219]

Looks like a great piece of land. I love the hills of WV -- I travel through there often during ski season.

Definitely get the rear tires filled no matter what you get.

The 1026R has low ground clearance, and that is often a negative aspect. But it might actually be a plus if you're mowing on hills, since it will help lower the CG. Keep in mind that any sub-compact or compact tractor will be more tippy than a garden tractor or riding mower, so take that into consideration.

My personal opinion, after having rented backhoes for projects, is that the little backhoes on sub-compact tractors are toys. I am sure they are good for some things, and they may even be better for certain jobs. But for the stuff I have done with a backhoe, it's a whole different world, and it would take forever to do stuff like dig a ditch or large scale footings with a little sub-compact hoe. Backhoes on larger compacts are more realistic and are a more compelling investment to me.

Seriously consider if the 1026R is better than a garden tractor or riding mower for the mowing you need to do, since that seems to be a big part of your needs. If the 1026R is not the best choice for mowing, then I'd suggest stepping up to a 2000/3000 series compact (from Deere, Kubota, or equivalent) for your tractor/backhoe needs, and then use a smaller garden tractor or riding mower for mowing. That's my current solution. At our next place (being built now) I will have larger flat areas to mow, and might consider ditching my little Deere mower and buying a mid-mower or brush-hog for my Kubota B2920 just to speed up the task.

 

[finley31]

I really appreciate all this advice, it is exactly what I was looking for. My first thought when I started looking was buying a 3038e and then getting a riding mower, but after looking at them in person I think it might be a little too tall for some of my hills. A dealer a littler farther away has a 2010 2520 with all the same attachments I'm wanting for $15000, so maybe I should look into this before I jump into anything, I might even end up saving a little money. I would like to be able to run a brush hog on a few parts of my property, I'm guessing it probably isn't practical with the 1026r?

 

[KennyG]

The 2520 sounds like it might be just what you need. The 1026 will handle a bushhog but the added weight and size of the 2520 would be a lot better.

 

[jenkinsph]

For a small place such as your I think you would be better off having someone bushhog it once for you and then maintain it with a mmm. Whether you go with something like an x749 or a 2520 the low slung mmm does alot to help lower the center of gravity. If you are real concerned about the slopes the 749 would be a better choice than the larger tractors. Having a fel is nice but raising one up on a steep slope can easily lead to a train wreck. I would also add that the x749 can mow faster on a slope than the taller tractors because you would need to slow down on them. So what would work best really depends on the slopes you have, I think I would get some equipment out on your place to try out before buying. You definately don't wan't to buy a tractor you are uncomfortable operating.

 

[chevy]

Nice place.

The 1026R should do fine for what you have. It is the most user friendly tractor/mower I have ever used. Installing & removing the mower deck is a breeze.
I do not have a loader or backhoe for my 1026R, but from the videos I have seen those are also very easy to remove & install.

My property slopes a lot like yours. I have never had a problem with the 60" deck scalping. It dose a great job of mowing. It mows much better than the 62C deck than I had before.

I have seen others move a lot of dirt with small backhoes & loaders. It just takes some time. The main concern is if the 260 will dig as deep as you need to go. If you are not doing a basement or if it will be a walk out basement, the 260 should do fine.